In The Hunt

In the Hunt has been one of the most anticipated arcade-to-home releases of its kind for over two years. The Super NES conversion was out, up and running at a prior CES show, but unfortunately it slipped away into vaporware. Soon the dream of many gamers will at least become a reality for PlayStation owners around the world when in the Hunt hits the store shelves.

The only way to describe the gameplay you will experience is to combine all of the best shooters you have ever played into one game.

Your goal is to navigate a submarine through six action-packed levels that are not only incredibly difficult but also require more thinking on the player's part than just pressing a few buttons. Some of the aspects of this title that separate it from all the rest are superb, highly detailed graphics, incredible sound and levels that are constantly filled with enemies who have one thing in mind: Eliminate your submarine!

In the Hunt features tons of power-ups for your craft, mostly weapon upgrades, but instead of just one-directional guns, you have the ability to attack in three directions: forward, up and down. This means the levels will never be the same. For instance, in the first level, you may choose to stay as close to the surface as possible. This way you can focus primarily on all of the air targets such as the planes and the attack helicopters. The next time you play the game, you may choose to stay as low as possible in the water. This way you can eliminate all the underwater targets but will still have to contend with the onslaught of missiles from the air. Either way, the missions are never going to be easy to complete--no matter how many times you play the game.

Another great feature of the game is the multiscrolling levels you will encounter throughout the mission. The early levels are pretty straightforward, and they let you get used to the way the game controls before you become frustrated with the extreme difficulty. These levels start out scrolling left to right, but you will soon find yourself battling enemies in levels that also scroll up and down.

If you've been a fan of awesome shooter games such as R-Type, Gradius and Darius Twin, then you should definitely check out In the Hunt. This game will be well worth it!

Strategy

In the Hunt stands alone as a great one-player game. But if you really want to have a good time, get together with a friend and have a go at it in the Two-player Mode. The difference between the two modes is that when playing by yourself, the amount of strategy that can be used is limited simply because you can only be in one place at any given time. In the Two-player Mode, there are a couple of strategic ways you can go. One way is to stay together in close formation and try to muscle your way through the levels. This probably won't get you to the end of the game, but it's a good way for beginners to get a feel for the levels. The other way will require you to know where a lot of the enemies are going to be attacking you from. One player chooses to take out the enemies from the air, and the other player primarily targets the underwater enemies. When done correctly, two experienced players should have no problem making it to the end Boss. An added bonus in the Two-player Mode is that after destroying a Boss, the game will decide which player inflicted more damage, thus awarding that player a medal of honor branded right onto the side of his or her submarine, allowing for not only cooperative play, but competitive play as well.

MANUFACTURER - T*HQ

DIFFICULTY - Easy

THEME - Shooter

NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1 or 2

reggie posted a review.

Overall rating: 5.5

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Game Reviews

The lineup of PlayStation shooters gets a boost with this conversion of Irem's arcade submarine game. The very detailed graphics are supported by audio that's loaded with blasts. The controls are sluggish but mostly accurate. This sub floats above other PlayStation shooters like Galactic Attack and Jupiter Strike.